Archive for
June 26th, 2010

Two quarters of rising profits at Arrowhead Credit Union failed to convince the government to stay away – the San Bernardino-based institution was taken over by federal regulators Friday.

Arrowhead’s “declining financial condition” prompted the seizure, according to a statement released Friday by the National Credit Union Administration. The decision does not affect Arrowhead’s 152,000 members, who will continue to receive uninterrupted service. Member funds are also federally insured up to $250,000 per account, the administration said.

During a visit to a family-owned bakery in Lincoln Heights on Friday, California Sen. Barbara Boxer said it was “bizarre” that her opponent, former Hewlett Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, has argued that her experience dealing with job cuts and outsourcing has prepared her to tackle those issues in Washington.

Fiorina, who laid off some 30,000 workers while she headed HP from 1999 to 2005, told an audience in Beverly Hills earlier this week that her willingness to make difficult choices during her tenure and her knowledge of why many companies are outsourcing jobs would be an asset to voters.

(06-25) 17:24 PDT OAKLAND — One of the state’s most powerful labor unions, saying it “won’t be pushed around” by Meg Whitman, unveiled a scathing ad campaign Friday seizing on an altercation between the former eBay CEO and one of her employees.

The California Nurses Association said the incident shows how disconnected the GOP gubernatorial nominee is from working people.

As GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman mails fliers to nurses criticizing the California Nurses Association, the union held a rally Friday in Oakland hitting back at Whitman and inviting her to a July 15 forum with nurses to be held in her hometown of Atherton.

Friday’s event drew several dozen nurses from around California and also featured an appearance by Queen Meg, a parody of Whitman played by teacher and actress Elaine Burn.

Lawyers for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa named the Los Angeles Dodgers as the most frequent donor of his free tickets, but they struggled to identify many of the other entities that have let him appear at athletic and cultural events without paying, according to documents released Friday.

The 422 pages of records were assembled as part of Villaraigosa’s effort to show that he was performing official and ceremonial duties while going to concerts, sports events and award shows over the last five years. The mayor says that distinction relieved him from having to report the tickets as gifts under state law.

Maybe it’s not corrupt, but at the very least, Villaraigosa’s use of free tickets is bad judgment.

June 25, 2010|Steve Lopez

Once upon a time in Los Angeles, we had an aggressively dull mayor who guarded his privacy, seldom emerged from his City Hall bunker, and took his sister with him when he went out on the town. Jim Hahn was so shy a guy, I set up a service to recruit potential dates for him.

In a big shakeup, the city made the switch to Antonio Villaraigosa, who seemed determined to prove that he didn’t need my help.